A House committee is demanding Chicago Public Schools turn over documents on its secretive gender and DEI policies, exposing a school system that hides life-altering decisions from parents—while a thousand miles away, Baltimore bureaucrats claim the right to police students off-campus.
From Illinois to Maryland, the public school monopoly is expanding its grip while dodging accountability. In Chicago, that means stonewalling Congress on billions poured into a diversity bureaucracy; in Baltimore, it means threatening discipline for kids commuting to school, shifting the burden to parents while the schools fail at basic order.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Rep. Tim Walberg, chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, sent a letter Thursday to CPS CEO Macquline King demanding records on gender guidelines, pronoun policies, teacher trainings, and parental exclusion since 2023. King testified before the committee in June, defending the district's policies by claiming they comply with Illinois law and fulfill CPS's commitment to "equity."
"In CPS, we say every student, every school, every community," King stated. "Fulfilling that commitment requires us to recognize the diversity of experiences, needs, and strengths that exist across our district."
The committee gave CPS until September 11 to produce the documents, noting the information will help determine if legislative changes are needed. This is the same district that had millions in federal grants pulled in 2025 after refusing to scrap its Black Student Success Program.
CBS News reported that Baltimore City Public Schools is asserting authority outside the classroom. After a "teen takeover" at The Rotunda in Hampden—where students on Lime scooters broke a window at Cinnaholic, hit a car, and sparked fights—the district warned students their code of conduct now extends to transit hours.
The district called keeping students safe a "shared responsibility," reminding students their actions during commute hours may be subject to the code of conduct, and urged parents to talk to their kids about making "good, safe, and responsible choices."
The pattern is clear: school systems grab power and shed accountability. CPS hides behind state law to cut parents out of major decisions regarding their own children's gender identity. Baltimore claims off-campus jurisdiction when kids act out, shifting the disciplinary burden to families. Taxpayers fund the apparatus, and what they get in return is stonewalling from Congress and windows smashed by teenagers on scooters.
CPS has until September 11 to answer Congress. Whether the district will finally come clean about its DEI apparatus, or simply retreat behind more equity jargon, remains to be seen.
